Sensei
by Fan Geek
Summary: One Shot [Past] It's double the trouble when Iruka is placed on 'afternoon' shift at the end of every school week, but he comes to find that maybe the extra headaches are worth it.


**Disclaimer**: _Naruto _is owned by the very talented (genius) Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

It was an average Friday afternoon and the air had it's usual chalk taste, the floor was spotlessly clean save for a few crumpled pieces of papers and a kunai near the back of the room, and each table sat unoccupied before the teacher's desk. He would've liked to think that it was quiet and peaceful, would've enjoyed knowing that he was left alone to a hefty amount of paper-grading, but he _knew_ this was only wishful thinking.

Umino Iruka wore a rigid smile as he watched the two post-toddlers bicker at the only occupied desk in the vicinity, his right hand tightly wound around a hairbrush, one thick vein pounding steadily upon his forehead. Though he was helplessly loyal and would never think ill of the man except in dire circumstances, Iruka silently damned the Hokage for putting him on orphan-duty. It wasn't that he didn't like the two boys put under his care for two hours at the end of each week. In fact, he found them both to be his most prized students—in completely different aspects, of course, considering who they were—but the two of them _together_…

"_IRUKA-SENSEEEI!_ SASUKE TOOK MY BRUSH!"

Oh yes. Separate the two of them and they were near angels, but put them together and be prepared to find yourself submerged in a shallow pit of Hell.

Iruka tested the most polite glare that he could muster at the exuberant blond currently playing tug-o-war with his classmate, one foot pressing against the other boy's thigh and the other braced upon the tabletop. The angered boy beside him tugged back, though his expression of rage was much more subdued.

"**Boys**." Iruka commanded sternly, setting the soft-bristled brush back onto his desktop and pushing himself forward, catching the two's attention. "If you cannot prove to me that you are indeed seven-years-old by sitting quietly and behaving for TEN MINUTES while I continue our lesson, then I'm going to separate the two of you."

This statement alone was enough to partially hush the blonde, who threw himself back down into his seat immediately, pretending not to notice the dagger-like glare being sent his way from his equally quiet classmate.

"Usuratonkachi." Came a small, deadpan voice, but though it was intentionally whispered, their teacher was still skilled enough to catch the insult before the blonde was given a chance to react.

"Sasuke!" Iruka exclaimed, sliding his chair back far enough for him to slip out from behind his desk. He rounded its corner and bent at the waist before the desk the two boys' occupied, his hands falling to rest upon his hips. "I expected better from my top student!" He continued in a bitter voice, growing annoyed at the fact that the raven-haired Uchiha hadn't even flinched at his scolding.

"I apologize, Iruka-sensei." Sasuke managed to say through the other boy's dramatic huffing that was becoming increasingly louder with each rise and fall of his shoulders.

Iruka nodded in affirmation, slowly redirecting his glare toward the smaller, pouting boy at his left. "Naruto…" He warned, but did not miss the 'stealthy' act of Sasuke sliding the stolen brush back in front of his classmate and then quickly retracting his hand as if it had never happened. Iruka decided not to provoke another all-out war over the object and kept quiet about the matter, instead focusing on the boy that proved to be much more of a pest.

"HMPH!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his arms around himself in a show of defiance, twisting his face away from his teacher and giving the older man a nice view of his profile. Naruto knew how to grate on someone's nerves without realizing just how annoying he was truly being, but Iruka refused to believe that it was caused by anything other than his lack of parenting.

The young teacher grabbed the hairbrush that he had provided the blonde, raising it to eyelevel, but not being able to conceal the twitching of his right eye. At an attempt to get the blonde's attention, he cleared his throat but received no recognition. Again, he cleared his throat much louder this time, but only received a rivaling louder huff. By now, Iruka was shaking so terribly that he was afraid Sasuke would slip away and call for a medicnin to come aid his seizuring teacher.

"_Naruto_." He hissed slowly, leaking enough venom into the name that it was enough to bring the blonde to attention, his angered expression not lessening in the least as Naruto slowly turned in his seat and faced him with a look of pure innocence in place.

"Whatcha' want, Iruka-sensei?" The boy asked casually, a grin spreading his lips seconds later and reaching his eyes.

Iruka's arm quivered violently as he brought the brush down much harder than necessary upon the boy's skull, receiving the desired yelp of surprise mingled with a very light pain as it contacted. Without wasting time, he made to swiftly bring the brush back through the blonde's unruly mass of hair, but his plans of simplicity were washed away with any hope of getting home early when Naruto began to struggle.

It was then that Iruka swore Sasuke had laughed.

Fifteen minutes and three stitches in his side later, Iruka found himself sitting upon the floor, legs locked tightly around Naruto's waist, one arm holding the boy's arms to his sides and pressing his back firmly against his much larger chest. As Naruto continued to shout out cries of protest, Iruka haphazardly began to pull the brush through the blonde jungle, grunting as the boy flailed fruitlessly in an attempt to escape.

"SO…" He began loudly, frustration and weariness clearly audible in his voice as he began to continue his disastrous lesson, sweat rolling down from his temple and onto his face.

Naruto shouted something inaudible and then actually resorted to crying for help, Sasuke's name mingled in with the pathetic squawks and pleas, but Iruka knew that game well and it seemed Sasuke did as well, because he continued to remain silent. Iruka let out a sharp breath of air before continuing, shifting his tight but not painful hold.

"…as you can SEE, Sasuke, cleanliness should be one of your—OUCH!—top priorities, INCLUDING the condition of your—NARUTO!—hair. Hokage-sama placed you under my care each Friday to teach you two to take—OW!—_care..._ of yourselves. This means that I don't ever want to see—HEY!—this kind of _TANGLED MESS_ **again**." Iruka glanced up at the silent boy, hoping that he was attentive as usual.

Sasuke had fallen asleep.

Iruka resisted the urge to throw Naruto _anywhere_ and punt Sasuke out of the classroom door and it took him nearly five minutes to completely subdue his rage, only to find that the energetic blonde in his hold had gone still. Fear instantly replaced the lingering anger and it was only nanoseconds before Iruka had released his tight hold upon Naruto and had spun the boy around to face him, only to find that he had fallen asleep as well.

With a sigh fit for someone granted life over death, the young teacher hunched forward, looming over the slumbering blonde with a hand nursing his headache, half-lidded eyes portraying his fatigue. Slowly, almost hesitantly, a warm smile tugged at his lips and he shook his head, pulling back from the irresistibly cute lie in his arms.

"If only you were this quiet everyday, Naruto, then maybe you would reach the top of my class and be closer to becoming Hokage, the thing you shout into everyone's ears each chance you get." Iruka spoke quietly, reluctantly tearing his gaze away from the face depicting not a care in the world.

Sliding his right arm beneath the blonde's legs and bringing the small body down until he had hooked the boy beneath his backside, Iruka waited for Naruto's torso to collapse against his chest before pushing himself up off of the ground into a stand. He approached Sasuke, repeating the motion and making sure that both boys were held securely before turning to the door.

He slipped out of the classroom before switching into acrobat-mode, flicking off the light switch and locking the door, sliding it closed with a quiet click, and as the teacher carried his students from out of the Shinobi Academy's large doors and into the evening air, the realization that he had left all of his paperwork behind did not even dare to grace him.

For in time, Iruka knew that the boys deep in slumber cradled against him would have to face the unbending cruelty of a warring world and knew that much hardships and darkness were ahead of them. But just this once, even if it were the last time, he would cater to them a warm bed and sweet dreams and the presence of safety and comfort…

…because who else, in this world, did they have?


End file.
